Ouran High School Host Club
Ouran High School Host Club is a 2008 American romantic comedy film directed by Sam Raimi. Based on the first three volumes of the manga by Bisco Hatori, the film centers on Haruhi Fujioka, an androgynous scholarship student who winds up working as a host in the all-boys host club. The film was entirely videotaped and shot at CBS Studios in New York as well as at WNET Channel 13 New York. Plot Note: the names in quotations between first and last names are the names used in the UK and Australia. The film opens as Haruhi "Harriet" (or "Harry") Fujioka (Emma Watson) is searching for a quiet place to study. Instead, she finds an all-boys club known as the host club. While trying to leave, though, she accidentally breaks an $80,000 (£40,000 in the UK and Australian versions) vase by Rune. Immediately, Tamaki "Thomas" Suoh (Daniel Radcliffe), the host club president, drafts her as a dogsbody. Soon, she learns from Kyoya "Eugene" Ohtori (Enrique Cervantes) that each club member has his individual talents needed to meet the needs of customers. During a speech by Tamaki about inside and outside beauty, Haruhi calls him annoying and then learns that they call him "king", though everyone uses synonyms such as "your majesty", "royalness", and "sire". When Tamaki learns about the last decade Haruhi had been through, he decides to cut her a deal: garner 100 customer requests, and her debt is waived. Soon Haruhi goes through the basics of being a host with Tamaki. Mitsukuni "Mitchell" (or "Mitch") Haninozuka (Rupert Grint) offers her first some cake, then his "Bun-Bun". During club activities later that day, she brings in the groceries for the club, including instant coffee, which the host club (and within seconds the customers) immediately gets excited about, much to the shock of Ayanokoji (Ashley Tisdale) The next day, Tamaki makes Haruhi the host club's instructor on how to make "the ramen of the common folk". During the lessons, Takashi "Rocky" Morinozuka (Skandar Keynes) speaks for the first time when he says that the seasoning was on the lid. Haruhi shows the club how to counter that problem: to put the toppings UNDER the noodles at the start. Promptly, the twins, Hikaru "Howard" (David Holmes) and Kaoru "Carson" (David Decio) Hitachiin lecture Haruhi on the ultimate romance, and in response, Tamaki has the host club give Haruhi a complete makeover. As soon as they finish with the makeover, Haruhi is promoted to the rank of "host". Haruhi immediately proves to be an asset to the host club--a natural, as Tamki put it. Tamaki introduces Haruhi to Ayanokoji, his regular. When Tamaki tackles Haruhi after she gave off another unique expression, the twins find it hilarious, and Mori quickly grabs Haruhi away from Tamaki. Afterwards, the twins set up a "Which One is Hikaru?" game, and Haruhi decides that Hikaru is the twin on the left, leading the customers to believe that she sees the twins not with her eyes, but with her soul. Soon, Haruhi discovers her bookbag and wallet in the pond. Haruhi has reason to believe Ayanokoji did it, but she couldn't put her finger on why she'd do it. Tamaki catches her in the pond and helps her find the bookbag and wallet. After Ayanokoji tells Haruhi that some people might get upset with her background, Haruhi accuses Ayanokoji of jealousy, and Ayanokoji calls her a brute, sparking a melee between the two. Before it's over, Haruhi rips off a piece of Ayanokoji's uniform, and the two get splashed by the twins, who make it look like an accident. Kyoya brings in damning photo evidence that Ayanokoji indeed smeared Haruhi. Tamaki expels Ayanokoji from the host club as a result and raises Haruhi's quota by 100 customers. Quickly, Tamaki notices Haruhi's ID and finds out she's a girl. None of the hosts were fooled for long. December comes, and when Haruhi reaches Music Room 3, she winds up in a tropical atmosphere. During club activities that day, Haruhi reveals to her customers that she's sensitive to the seasons. Soon, a customer by the name of Kanako "Carrie" Kasugazaki (Hilary Duff) makes Haruhi her new favorite, much to the chagrin of Tamaki. After Kyoya talks about the classic "fickle female disease", Tamaki orders Haruhi to start wearing something more feminine. After Tamaki gives Haruhi's (enlarged) middle school ID photo to the twins, Haruhi tells them her story of how she became the androgynous girl she is. Haruhi then manages to set off Tamaki by swearing (she says "ore", a term for "I" which is considered vulgar when used by a female), and when the twins tell her that social dancing is required for the coming Christmas party, Tamaki offers to cut her debt in half if she masters the waltz. As a result, Haruhi takes her dancing lessons from Kanako. Soon, Haruhi learns that Kanako likes dishes, but Kanako violently denies it, burning her finger in the process. Haruhi takes her to Nurse's Room 3, where they encounter Toru "Todd" Suzushima (Edward Speleers), who has an unrequited love for Kanako. As Kanako tries to leave, Mori comes in with an injured Hunny, injuring Kanako and the room's door(?) in the process. Haruhi learns Toru's name from Hunny. Soon, the host club is researching Toru and winds up with the following results: that Toru and Kanako are childhood pals betrothed to each other by their parents, that Toru is class C, and that Toru's going to England as a transfer student the coming spring. The research concludes that Kanako's "fickle female disease" was caused by her belief that a future with Toru is an unwelcome prospect. The party begins at 5PM in the central building's main hall on Christmas Eve. Haruhi finally learns why social dancing was a must for the party: top point-earners during the casino operations would be awarded the last dances with club members. Then the winner would receive a kiss from Tamaki. Haruhi quickly embarrasses herself by having the host club order giant tuna. Quickly, Haruhi is brought to the Main Hall Prep Room by Hunny and Mori, and the host club disguises her as a genuine girl in an attempt to bring Toru and Kanako together. Soon, Kanako sees Toru and Haruhi (who she doesn't recognize due to the disguise) and runs off, with Toru following suit. Haruhi tries to run after them but trips on her high heels, twisting her ankle as she falls onto Tamaki, who gives the order to begin the countdown. As soon as the lights turn on outside, Toru and Kanako are reconciled. During the last dance, Haruhi has to sit out because of her ankle, but that doesn't mean she wouldn't get her big chance in the spotlight: the twins, taking orders from Kyoya, announce that the big winner, Miss Miyako, would now receive the "blessed kiss" from Haruhi. Kyoya offers to slice her debt to $50,000 (£25,000 in the UK and Australian versions) if she kisses Miyako, and Haruhi accepts. But just as she does the kiss, Tamaki interferes, earning him the unflattering nickname "kissaholic". The club's next problem arrives during the New Year celebrations: French-Japanese fangirl Renge "Renee" Houshakuji (Brenna O'Brien). She declares her love for Kyoya solely based on his looks (he looks like Ichijo Miyabi from "Uki Doki Memorial") and names herself the club's new manager. Soon, she's learning from Haruhi how to make a common folk's cookie--and failing miserably! The host club tries Renge's cookies, and they tasted like a rock. Haruhi's batch, meanwhile, was tasty. Soon, Renge's fangirl behavior forces a major character revision. Haruhi and Kyoya are the only host club members whose personalities are not altered (Haruhi's personality as a working class hero was fine by her). Kyoya decides to let the character revisions stay for a while as an experiment. Soon, the major character revision, with the twins as basketball players, Tamaki as the lonely king, Hunny as a monster, and Mori as Hunny's guardian, turns out to be a movie project straight from Hollywood. Soon, Haruhi and Renge encounter D class students, who Renge casts as villains. As a result, the D class students attack both Renge and Haruhi, the latter whose contacts are slipping out of her sockets as a result. Tamaki catches them in the act, and the twins tell on the D class students, who are running away. Quickly, Kyoya smashes the camera and puts an end to the project, though it soon gets leaked among the customers. Come springtime, the club temporarily moves activities to the garden outside. Tamaki overhears the twins saying that they and Haruhi are in the same class. Kyoya then shows him a photo of Haruhi between the twins during classtime and remarks that the twins and Haruhi are together for nine hours, while Tamaki and Haruhi are together for only one to two hours. When Hunny brings up the upcoming physical exams, Haruhi tells the other hosts that it would reveal her secret. After Tamaki has a fantasy about Haruhi's first day of school as a girl in a while (ironically from Haruhi's P.O.V.), he reminds Hikaru that springtime was made for romantic comedy. When he divides the host club into "Love Comedy" and "Sexless", the host club on the "Sexless" side remind Tamaki that once the cat's out of the bag, Haruhi can kiss her job at the host club goodbye. As Haruhi enters, the host club is discussing their plan to protect her secret, or "Formation A". They finally convince Haruhi to play along by threatening to permanently separate her from giant tuna. At the physical exams, a doctor reveals that the twins have grown half an inch to 5'9". Just as quickly, though, the girls discover Formation A. Soon, the time comes for Haruhi and the twins to take their physical exams, and Hunny and Mori, who are disguised as doctors as part of Formation A, push her into the curtains, and Tamaki emerges wearing a brown wig. The girls find out just as quickly as he emerges, and Haruhi glares at him for the effort. Kyoya, though, gives Haruhi a glimmer of hope by revealing that a doctor in the next room would keep her secret. As Haruhi is undressing in that "next room", a scruffy man (Owen Wilson) in a lab coat approaches her, and Hunny kicks him in the head for the effort. When the host club confronts him, he reveals his name to be "Yabu", which is Japanese for "quack", and tells them that he just wanted to see his daughter. Turns out he was actually looking for the public school in the next city, Ourin High School. Tamaki gives him a map to Ourin and sees him off. Later, the twins had spare time with the club computer, which resulted in a photo of a topless--and very flat-chested!--Haruhi using Haruhi's face and Tamaki's body. Tamaki, of course, called the photo "a scandalous abuse of technology", and while Tamaki's looking for alternatives, the twins call her "a toy", and no sooner do they say it than Umehito "Nicholas" Nekozawa (Jett Lucas) comes along. The twins shine flashlights on poor Nekozawa, and Tamaki spills the beans about what happened to him when he accidentally stepped on Nekozawa's cat puppet, Bereznoff, scolds the twins, and summarily sentences them to two days' chore duty. During club activities that day, Haruhi reveals that another way to tell the twins apart is that Hikaru's words and actions are a bit more evil. Unknown to Haruhi, this sparks a fight between the twins, and Renge declares that Haruhi got entangled in a love square involving the twins and Tamaki. Meanwhile, the fighting continues, and Tamaki comes to this conclusion: "Boredom = flared tempers = hard words." Hikaru comes to school the next morning with his hair dyed a flamingo pink color, Then Kaoru comes in, and the fighting continues. All throughout the day, they drag Haruhi into their schemes to outdo each other. At lunch, though, they get the same thing yet again. Hunny tries to referee the fight, but with little success. The rest of the host club arrives to check out a commotion. As the twins and Haruhi continue to eat their lunches, the fighting begins again, and a fork winds up flying at Tamaki, who the twins inadvertantly blame for the action (they were really pointing at each other). As punishment, the host club gets cafeteria cleanup duty. At an emergency meeting, Kyoya threatens to penalize the twins and declares Haruhi innocent of starting the melee with her simple observation. As Tamaki tries to leave, he falls into a trap set by the twins, and the three run outside. Haruhi loads a gun she lifted from the Black Magic Club and leaves with the rest of the host club. Outside, Tamaki manages to fall into every trap the twins set up. Kaoru pulls out a voodoo doll he lifted from the Black Magic Club, but before he could cause Hikaru any pain, Haruhi fires her gun into the air and whacks the twins on their heads, threatening to ban them from her house if they continue fighting. The twins reveal that the fight was a set-up, and Tamaki comes to this conclusion: "There's nothing more demonic than two bored twins." Later, a young boy by the name of Shiro "Samuel" Takaoji (Labon Hester) enters Music Room 3 and enters an Arabian atmosphere. He declares to Tamaki that he wants to be his apprentice. Soon, he's ruining Tamaki's relationships with his customers, calling the twins and Haruhi gay, and causing Kyoya to raise Haruhi's debt to $51,000 (£25,500 in the UK and Australian versions). As a result, Tamaki orders him caged. Soon Tamaki has him training to become a wild kid. He quickly escapes, though, and the host club comes up with a plan to bring him back--one that disguises Hunny as an elementary school boy and Haruhi as a middle school girl (complete with a wig). During the stakeout, the rest of the host club spies on them, which hinders their progress, though they do manage to find Shiro in a nearby music room. Tamaki comes along and learns that Shiro is in love with a Hina "Haylie" Kamishiro (Kayleigh Caldwell). Tamaki grabs Shiro, drags him to Music Room 3, and teaches him how to play Schubert on the piano. At the recital at the end of the week, Shiro and Hina recite a Schubert piece together as the host club, dressed in tuxedos, watch. Before the summer ends, Haruhi and the host club find themselves in the Ohtori Group's swimming resort. The twins suggest swimsuits to Haruhi, but she wants none of them. Soon, an accident separates Hunny from the rest of the group. Mori dives in, but he hits the opposing current. Kyoya makes some notes, and the host club realized they were used as guinea pigs! They split up to look for Hunny, and they learn that the Morinozukas served the Haninozukas for generations, but two generations ago, marriage blended the families. Kyoya sends a search team to find Hunny, but they find Haruhi and Mori. Hunny knocks the searchers unconscious, and Haruhi decides she wants to go to a real beach. After the exams are over, the twins show Haruhi a frilled bikini they plan on her wearing, though Hunny suggests a one-piece swimsuit. Tamaki quickly catches on and whacks them all the way to the next scene (pun intended), and when he says nobody objected to going to the beach, the host club decides to go to the beach. Unknown to most of the club at the time, Kyoya's beach is being used by a client of the Ohtori family, so they have to make do with Nekozawa's beach (I Love Rock N Roll). When the twins realize that Kyoya had tricked them into going to an environment where there'd be many customers, Tamaki reminds them that "this is all according to plan" and crafts a fantasy of a romantic moment with him and Haruhi (again from Haruhi's P.O.V.). When Haruhi points out a cat-shaped rock, he wakes up and realizes, with help from the twins, that they had to make do with Nekozawa's private beach. Kyoya finally tells Tamaki that a client was using his beach, and Haruhi preferred one of Japan's beaches since she didn't have a passport. Nekozawa tells the host club about his beach, named Nekogaiwa. His story of the cat-shaped rock terrifies Tamaki, whose terror is only intensified when he learns that Haruhi plans to jump off the rock. When he learns that Nekozawa had set up the cave in the rock, he declares the beach "very creepy". Haruhi and the gang decide to collect seashells. When Tamaki picks up a crab, he inadvertantly frightens the twins, Hunny, and several customers away, not realizing a bug was on the crab. Unfazed, Haruhi picks the bug up and throws it toward the grass. The twins are amazed that Haruhi isn't scared of anything as far as everyone else knows and decides to play a game with Tamaki called Haruhi's Phobia. Quickly, Hunny and Mori join in, and the game begins. The traps are labeled "Places of Horror" (where the twins tell of a skeleton's hand dragging passerbys into the walls and even play a prank on Haruhi), "Fear of Heights", "Fear of the Dark", "Fear of Pointy Things" (where Mori pulls a harpoon on Haruhi--pun intended), and "Claustrophobia" (Hunny's fear). At the cave of the cat-shaped rock, a few lost tourists start picking on girls until Haruhi attacks the tourists by throwing her entire seashell collection at them ("a riches of the sea attack"). The tourists, naturally, are as pissed as hell, so they hit Haruhi hard enough to make her fall off the rock. Tamaki dives in after her, and when they get onto dry land, Haruhi is barely conscious. But now Tamaki refuses to speak to her until she admits her mistake, which everyone knows might happen on a cold day in Hell. Later that day, Haruhi, upon entering her room, opens her suitcase and, much to her chagrin, finds a red dress instead of the clothes she had packed for the trip! Uttering an obscenity, she throws the suitcase down out of malice. As it turns out, the room she's in is part of a haunted mansion owned by the Nekozawa family. When Haruhi enters the room, having flipped a switch and turning the lights on to inadvertantly knock Nekozawa unconscious, she reveals that her cross-dresser of a father had switched clothes on her when she wasn't looking. Tamaki's nose quickly bleeds, and Hunny demonstrates an incorrect example of first aid: a karate chop. At dinner, Nekozawa fails to show up, having decided to turn in early due to the sudden application of light. Haruhi offers Tamaki some crab, which sparks a food fight. The Nekozawa family butler (Billy Zane) shows the rest of the host club to their rooms. When Nekozawa sees the host club rushing shortly thereafter, he catches Haruhi in the wrong outfit, asking in his best Alice Cooper voice, "What is the meaning of this?" The host club (save for Kyoya) is soon bugging Nekozawa about everything they don't know about him, and Kyoya and Haruhi have some alone time together. Soon, Tamaki comes in and catches the two in a sensual position. Tamaki starts grilling her about Kyoya, and soon, he finds out Haruhi's phobia: thunderstorms. That fall, Haruhi is running toward the school with the club's groceries when she trips, landing on a mysterious Ouran student (Kay Panabaker) who inexplicably knows Haruhi's secret. Back in Music Room 3, two feminist Ouran students (Amanda Michalka and Georgie Henley) are discussing womanhood, and the student who intercepted Haruhi comes in with her. The student then kisses her hand, much to the shock of host and customer alike (the hosts are disgusted by this, thinking the secret's blown, while the customers think it's gay incest far beyond what they've seen before). Failing to convince the three mystery students that Haruhi's a boy, he deduces that they're "definitely not from Ouran" and demands their identities. The three students reveal themselves: the "male" student is Benio "Bennie" (or "Benibara") Amakusa, while the other two are Chizuru "Susan" (or "Suzuran") Maihara and Hinako "Haylie" (or "Hinagiku") Tsuwabuki. All three declare their loyalty to the 'Zuka Club of their real school: St. Lobelia Women's Institute. Renge comes in and explains what St. Lobelia and the 'Zuka Club are about as the real men in the host club get out of their costumes and back into uniform. The 'Zuka Club girls, who had earlier damned the club for lacking history and being filled with "street trash", are now damning Tamaki for being half-European and the club itself for indulging their "greed" in the name of club activities and involving "a delicate female flower" (who turns out to be Haruhi). Haruhi offers the 'Zuka Club instant coffee, and Tamaki drags her away and gets his finger burnt in Hinagiku's intentionally spilled coffee for the effort. Haruhi accuses Benibara of jumping to conclusions, inadvertantly jumping to a conclusion herself. The twins, Hunny, and Kyoya set her straight, inadvertantly revealing that they sold her mechanical pencil and pissing her off in the process. The 'Zuka Club girls leave the club alone, saying that they will return the next day. Haruhi leaves the room shortly thereafter, and the host club jumps to the conclusion that she's transferring to St. Lobelia and jeopardizing the host club! Tamaki, though, calms everyone down. The next afternoon, the girls discover Haruhi by herself outside of Music Room 3. When they open the door, they discover a 'Zuka Club initiation, which Benibara deems to insult her club's culture. Tamaki explains that if Haruhi chooses his club over the 'Zuka Club, she'll have brothers and sisters so she can enjoy a 'Zuka Club atmosphere while at the host club. While showing his costume to Haruhi, he inadvertantly knocks her over. Benibara jumps to the conclusion that Haruhi would not be fooled by a drag act just as Haruhi starts laughing, finding that so-called "drag act" to be funny. Haruhi informs Benibara that she'll be staying behind because she has a dream she wants to fulfill. The host club is relieved, and the 'Zuka Club, undaunted, swears revenge on the host club. On Halloween, Haruhi notices a witch by the window of the Central Wing. When Haruhi is still offering the twins candy she got from her supposed magic satchel, Tamaki reveals that the "magic satchel" illusion was actually created when he "snuck" plenty of candy into her surroundings. At first, Haruhi refuses a witch costume she was offered by Hikaru. But soon, events make her relent such as a second witch sighting, cracked windows, and the clock chiming when it wasn't supposed to. After getting changed, Haruhi notices that the window is empty yet again and is intercepted by Nekozawa, who, by calling her "Mr. Fujioka", indicated that he merely thought she had cross-dressed in his mansion. He then offers to take the Witch's Curse upon himself when all of a sudden, a gust of wind blows his wig off. Renge, cosplaying as a female student from "Uki Doki Memorial", asks Haruhi to help make jack-o-lanterns and cookies. While making cookies, Haruhi manages to catch a glimpse of the witch in a mirror and runs right into Hikaru. When she looks at the Central Wing window again, she spots the witch again, and Hikaru utters an obscenity quickly. Haruhi draws a funny face on a jack-o-lantern, and later, when Hunny tries one of her cookies, it turns out to be salty. When Haruhi runs to the Central Wing, she finds Kaoru cross-dressing as the Witch of the Central Wing. Tamaki berates the twins for the trouble they caused, and the twins take Haruhi to the dance with them. Later, Tamaki has a nightmare about going to Haruhi's place and decides to ask Kyoya to come with him to her house to investigate. Soon, while Haruhi is coming back from the supermarket, the entire host club comes in, invited by Kyoya to accompany him and Tamaki, much to the latter's chagrin. When they enter, Tamaki realizes his nightmare isn't even close to coming true. Tamaki then makes a game out of the visit, calling it Don't Embarrass Haruhi. Later, Tamaki sees Haruhi with her mother's ashes and a photo. While leaving the room, Tamaki trips on Haruhi just in time for Ryoji "Ryan" (or "Ranka") Fujioka (Eddie Izzard) to catch the two in a compromising position, setting the stage for a cliffhanger to be resolved in the first Ouran High School Host Club special. Cast Differences between the manga and the movie *The deleted scenes are original to the movie. *Haruhi and Ayanokouji never fight in the manga. *In the manga, only Ayanokouji gets splashed. (Haruhi also got splashed in the anime, though unlike in the movie, she actually changes into dry clothes) *Haruhi never rips off a piece of Ayanokouji's uniform in the manga. *When Kanako catches Toru with a disguised Haruhi, Haruhi takes her wig off in the manga before chasing them; at Emma's request Haruhi never takes her wig off in the movie version of that scene. *Though unseen in the movie, Haruhi indeed lifted a gun from the Black Magic Club room in the movie and even fires it into the air in a rather successful attempt at stopping the fight. The gun is never seen in the manga, though one was seen late in Vol. 5. *Haruhi's disdain towards the luggage-switching is more pronounced in the movie; when she discovers a red dress in her suitcase, she yells "Son of a bitch!" and throws it down. *The characters all wear '80s costumes in the movie, and Haruhi is even seen embracing widgie fashions, complete with blue jeans (one of Emma's trademarks), in certain scenes. *In the scene where the host club visits her apartment, Haruhi is seen riding a motorcycle and is about to park it in the complex's garage when a pair of limousines park in the complex to let the boys out. Production Development In November 2003, Mario Kassar picked up the American movie rights to several properties, including Ouran and another Bisco Hatori title, Thousand Years of Snow. When Emma Watson, along with a ragtag team of translators that included voice actor Kiyoshi Kobayashi, finished translating the first three volumes of the former title, Kassar read the translations and offered her a part in the film. Emma chose Harriet Fujioka because "she's pretty good for an androgynous character--and I'm not saying I don't like the androgynous--and also, I saw Renee Houshakuji to be too girly for me at the moment, and as for Bennie Amakusa, I don't want to play a villain again, as I found it too exhausting during another film I did." (Although, she would again play an evil character in Babel II, though her character in that film, like with Sailor Moon R, eventually turns good). Rupert Grint was the next to be cast, having received copies of Emma's translation himself. He applied for the part of Harriet, but Kassar told him that Emma had already taken the part, so Rupert settled for Mitchell Haninozuka. Meanwhile, Emma, with help from casting director Gail Stevens, scouted the globe for cast members and found doblaje actor Enrique Cervantes, who was quickly given the part of Eugene Ohtori, in the process. When Daniel Radcliffe heard that two of his bandmates (Emma and Rupert) had been cast in the film, he immediately applied for the part of Thomas Suoh--and succeeded. Shortly after casting wrapped up (excluding the hiring of extras to be used in the course of taping), Emma came across a problem: "When I reread the first three volumes, I was shocked to see Haruhi dress femininely and not wearing a wig at the same time. I decided that something had to be done about it, so I built a tripod on wheels and attached obviously fake hips and realistic arms to it. Mr. Raimi, who was directing the film, said I could use the tripod to shoot any scene I liked as long as I operated it myself. I told him it was impossible, and we came to a compromise: a team of mechanics would operate the tripod using the remote controls, but I had to move the tripod myself. I agreed." Another problem came up when it was discovered that Hunny was the size of a child. Like Emma, Rupert had an easy solution to this problem: build your own machine. Rupert spent a week working on his newest invention: a hologram device that projects you at 5'0" tall. All Rupert had to do was perform his part between the background and a green or blue screen, and he'd be pint-sized on the stage between the audience and the background. The only catch was that the two areas had to be exactly the same size, and he could not be carried on Skandar Keynes's back. To solve the latter problem, supermarionation doubles of Rupert and Skandar were used in certain scenes. The last problem was which script to use. Steve Kloves and Akiva Goldsman were hired to write the screenplay, but the two wrote their own drafts, using similar words in each script. When the matter was brought before Emma in October 2005, she read both scripts and decided to use Kloves's script for shooting and Goldsman's script for dubbing for American audiences. Both scripts added scenes not present in the manga (see below), but Kloves's script used British and Australian slang such as "bloody hell" and "my nigger", British currency, excess profanity (including several F-bombs, many of them dropped by Haruhi/Harriet), and English first names, while Goldsman's script toned down the British and Australian slang and the profanities (i.e. Haruhi's "my nigger" is replaced with "my buddy" to avoid racial insensitivities, and "fucked with the clocks", also spoken by Haruhi, became "screwed with the clocks"), used American currency, and retained the original first names of the characters. Also, the film bounced across a few distributors in America: Carolco first pitched the film to TriStar Pictures, but they refused. Paramount Pictures decided to distribute it, if only in the United Kingdom. Undaunted, Carolco finally found a pair of distributors in the form of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and CBS Theatrical Films. Under Carolco's deal with Disney and CBS, CBS would share broadcast rights with PBS, while Disney would have full home video rights both domestically and worldwide (though Paramount still held theatrical rights in the UK and home video rights in Australia were shared with Roadshow Entertainment). Taping Promotional photos were taken in the course of September 2006, and in the most infamous of these photos, Emma, Rupert, David Holmes, and David Decio all wore kilts and were crowding the photo area while Rupert was holding a goldfish bowl with a goldfish leaping out. Another photo showed Emma in widgie gear. Photos to be used for the film were also taken around this time. The first scenes to be taped had Emma portraying Haruhi's mother, Kotoko, and featured cameo appearences by Kara Hoffman as a young Haruhi, Izzy Stradlin as the defendant in a lawsuit, Ian McShane as the plaintiff, Los Angeles voice actor Greg Snegoff as the attorney for the plaintiff, and Paul Newman as the judge. Next came the principal photography, which took place at CBS Studios in New York and WNET Channel 13 New York. It lasted between November 2006 and November 2007, and none of it actually took place outdoors. In fact, though the entire beach scene features real sand and water all of it was taken from New York City's beaches. During scenes shot at that artificial indoor beach, Emma nearly drowned while doing her own stunts. After Daniel dove in to bring her back onto dry land, he noticed she wasn't breathing, so David H. and David D. had to do CPR on her on camera. The CPR was cut from the final cut due to its slowing the movie down. Nevertheless, Emma still does all her own stunts. Design The film was designed to look like an '80s film, and '70s and early '80s songs made it into the final cut. There were, of course, a few exceptions to the '80s rule: a modern-day computer is prominently featured at the beginning of the first part of the scene where the twins fight, a Game Boy Advance SP appears during the Zuka Club affair, and in an early scene, "Rocket Queen" by Guns N Roses----plays. Costume designer Penny Rose handmade the Ouran uniforms herself, and while the girls' uniform remains the same, the boys' uniform was slightly changed from a light blue (from the anime) to a dark purple (from the manga) color. Rose, who has designed the costumes for all of Carolco's motion pictures since its reformation in 1999, also designed the St. Lobelia uniforms and casual outfits. The sets were designed by concept artist Mark "Crash" McCreery, and boy, do they look elaborate! McCreery went extravagant with the concept art for the sets but still kept the designs early '80s-style. Music As explained earlier, '70s and '80s songs were used, including "I Love Rock N Roll". The only post-'80s song was "Sakura Kiss", sung in a New Wave version by Emma herself. The entire score, composed by Dominic Frontiere, is synthesized, and the opening theme uses cues from the theme from Sunset Limousine, which is shorter than Frontiere's version. The rest of the score is original. The entirety of Frontiere's score was recorded at Screenmusic Studios by Emma Watson, Vangelis, and Guns N Roses's own Chris Pitman. Deleted scenes *Before leaving to do the host club's groceries, Haruhi looks around the room and spots a wardrobe. Opening it, she sees clothes for men as well as clothes for women. Before sending her to do the groceries, Tamaki tells her that with an all-male club, one member is bound to be a cross-dresser. *Haruhi gets her ankle bandaged at the infirmary after changing back into her Christmas party outfit. *When Tamaki enters the dressing room, he finds Haruhi passed out and wearing only part of her Ouran uniform. When Haruhi regains her consciousness, she glares at Tamaki and goes into a profanity-laden drunken tirade for a few minutes, and it's revealed that her cross-dresser of a father had snuck sake into her dressing room before school started. *The twins and Tamaki sketch the host club members' bodies and turn them in to the drama club to make doll versions of the entire host club. *An alternate version of Tamaki's romantic comedy fantasy showed Tamaki by the window in Music Room 3 playing with Tamaki and Haruhi dolls. *Tamaki introduces the twins to a new Dell computer and puts them in charge of the club website. *The host club runs to the outside area to referee the twins' fight and are shocked to see Tamaki in a mess caused by the twins' traps. *The host club gets dressed for the upcoming piano recital by Shiro and Hina. *An unconscious Haruhi is laid on the sand so that the twins can take turns doing CPR on her to prevent her from officially drowning. *After catching Haruhi in the wrong outfit, Nekozawa has a conversation with her and the twins, thanking them for purchasing Black Magic Club memorabilia (Haruhi got a gun while the twins got voodoo dolls). Nekozawa then calls Haruhi a cross-dresser, to which Haruhi says, "Yeah, well, you can blame my own cross-dressing loser of a father". *Tamaki has the school tailor design 'Zuka Club-style costumes for the entire host club. *The twins inform Haruhi that there will be a surprise for her when she and the 'Zuka Club girls arrive at Music Room 3. *An alternate version of the host club's Takarazuka Revue impersonation shows the entirety of the host club's truly male members (save for Mori) in feminine attire instead of just the twins and Hunny. *The host club, still in their costumes from the previous deleted scene, and Haruhi, in a masculine Takarazuka Revue costume, go on with their hosting duties. *The twins show Haruhi the dance steps to "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen a la Dance Dance Revolution. *A flashback sequence shows Kotoko defending a musician who's being sued for copyright infringement. SPOILER: The judge rules in favor of the defendant. Release Marketing A teaser trailer, which consists of a pan from the entrance to Ouran to the entrance to Music Room 3 and was entirely CGI animated, premiered before Thousand Years of Snow. Two theatrical trailers were created in November 2007: the first, which is basically a 3-D version of the lunch segment of the scene where the twins fight ending with 3-D stills of the main cast in the film, premiered before Time Stranger Kyoko and was only shown before Real D screenings of any film, while the second, a more trailer-like trailer, premiered before American Gangster and was only shown on films being screened flat. The teaser and second theatrical trailers were narrated by Don LaFontaine. Posters were made, with one featuring the aforementioned photo of Haruhi, Hunny, and the twins in kilts, and another featuring a group shot of the host club. Those are only two examples of posters; yet another poster is based on the front cover of the first volume of the manga of the same name, with Tamaki in the background and Haruhi (wearing an Ouran boys' uniform) holding a bouquet of roses over her shoulder. Theatrical run and home video release See also: Ouran High School Host Club home video releases The premiere took place at the Tokyo Dome in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan on January 15, 2008, one month before the Japanese language version debuted. All seven cast members portraying the host club showed up wearing Ouran's boys' uniforms from the film. The film was released in Japan on February 15, 2008, with the English language release premiering in Australia, the USA, Canada, and the UK within a couple of weeks. The film was rated PG-13 in the United States "for sexual themes and some language", while the rating in the United Kingdom was 15 "for language". The Australian and British releases kept all the profanity intact, while the American release toned down the British and Australian terms as well as the foul language. The film premiered on home video on October 28, using Disney's old-style white clamshell with the artwork embedded into it as well as the 1981 Walt Disney Home Video International logo. Due to the length, the film was released on two cassettes, with a behind the scenes special on the second tape. The Australian home video release uses the American home video print (sans the FBI warning, Walt Disney and You promo, and behind the scenes special) but inserts a Roadshow logo at both ends of the tape, with Roadshow's 1983 warning and previews for other Roadshow films. The American DVD and BluRay releases use the Betamax and VHS print (minus the FBI warning and with the Walt Disney and You promo and behind the scenes special on Disc 2) but uses early '80s Disney and Roadshow previews such as The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and First Blood. An extended version with deleted scenes premiered as part of the new Disney anthology series on PBS on September 2, with only the first third showing. The last two thirds were shown on September 9 and September 16. It was later confirmed that this extended version would be shown in IMAX 3-D in 2011 and is rated PG-13 on appeal "for strong language throughout, suggestive themes, brief nudity and some violence". (It was originally rated R "for language".) Spinoffs The Disney anthology series included Ouran-themed episodes, all based on original stories. Several video games have been release since 2008, including a racing-themed game and Mario Party-style games, titled Ouran Party. A full-length character album was even released, titled Haruhi Fujioka Sings and featuring hard rock and heavy metal covers. A few singles were released from the album, most notably "Desolation Row", which is a full-length hard rock cover of Bob Dylan's surreal song. Following the success, two "live" concerts were broadcast on PBS in 2011: Master of Puppets Premiere Concert and Haruhi Fujioka Sings Live. The former contains the entirety of the quintessential Metallica album Master of Puppets, and the latter includes songs such as Master of Puppets, Peace Sells, Moskau, and Moonlight Densetsu among others. Category:2008 films